Anyone ever bent a Pugsley fork?

I Googled for bent Pugsley forks to see if there is a known problem and came up dry.
The fork has 100mm dropout spacing with the holes for Anything Cages and no cantilever bosses. It folded right at the top of the brake mount/brace and a wrinkle extends to the edge of the bottom Anything Cage hole.

It is unfortunately not clear to me that this is a manufacturing defect rather than a design defect and I'm a little afraid to replace the broken fork with one just like it. I can't help but wonder if a weakness was introduced with that bottom hole so close to the brake brace. It's pretty disconcerting to have folded the fork so easily.

PS. I've never seen a bent fork that wasn't caused by an accident, usually bike vs. car. Have you?

Last edited by bugshield; 12-11-2012 at 06:58 AM.
Reason: Highlighted the fact that we are talking about 100mm forks.

BTW, I released the skewer after to fact to take any load off the hub/rotor. I put the wheel on my truing stand and it's still true. I'm not entirely sure about the rotor but it's straight enough that no damage is obvious.

Wow again...

Originally Posted by bugshield

BTW, I released the skewer after to fact to take any load off the hub/rotor. I put the wheel on my truing stand and it's still true. I'm not entirely sure about the rotor but it's straight enough that no damage is obvious.

Pretty crazy, eh?

...I smell a recall coming! Definitely a mfg problem if not also a design problem.

That's 215 lbs and not 215 kg right?!?!

The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not represent any policy of the CA Dept. of Parks & Rec.

Me too. What build is it? I have a packaged Necro 2012 with the first Moonie fork. Aren't the new ones for 2013 offset like the reg Pugs are? Now I worry about my Moonie fork attached to my Necro.

Mine was a custom build with a symmetrical 100mm fork. As far as I know all the prebuilt bikes come with 135mm forks. Not saying, but hoping the problem is limited. It seems like there would be more results for "bent pugsley fork" etc. in Google if it weren't.

If I were Surly, I'd want that fork back for testing and discovery. No way with a puny 6" rotor that this should ever happen. Thank goodness it was steel. Rather frightening!

I'm 240lbs, using Hayes Nine Carbons with 8" rotors on my Enabler fork with no problems like this, thankfully. However, there is a moderate amount of front flex (noticed on pavement). My real issueis that the brakes howl with light to moderate pressure and cause a reasonance throughtout the front end. More annoying than anything, and I'd like to find a solution.

Most people ply the Well Trodden Path. A few seek a different way, and leave a Trail behind.
- John Hajny, a.k.a. TrailMaker

I've been using the same fork (new model, 100 mm spacing) with a 180 mm rotor for the last few months without any problems. It weighs 1090 grams so not "extremely heavy", I weigh 165 lbs.

I notice more flex on the Surly fork than on my other steel fork (custom 29'er) so I get a lot more brake rub, but other than that it's been ok so far.

Thanks for the additional data point. Obviously there are people out there who haven't had a problem but it's somewhat reassuring to hear from one. Would you say that yours has had an easy life or that if there was a problem you would likely know it?